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With all the social media hype people are scrambling to be everywhere, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+, YouTube . . . and while the online madness consumes more and more of our time, people are forgetting one of the most important ways to keep and grow business. Personal, face-to-face relationships. The ones where we meet for coffee, lunch or drinks. Go golfing, out for dinner or just a plain, simple office meeting. Establishing and nurturing your business relationships works because people ultimately do business with people. And while technology gives us new opportunities to connect with people around the world, your business will grow and prosper when you take the time to meet with and personally connect with customers and potential customers.

Often, getting those creative marketing juices flowing is easier said than done. As I sat in the waiting area of my dentist’s office, I watched two children play with a toy train. It was a simple toy, and there was no track, but they had conjured up an imaginary world that sounded like a mystical destination. It came complete with a hero, a villain and a delectable house made entirely of candy . . . of course. As I watched and listened, I marveled at their ability to create this amazing world around a simple toy train.

Can creative marketing be as simple as the toy train? This experience got me thinking about creativity and how children have a knack for creativity unlike any adult. It is born from their innocence and lack of imaginative boundaries. As a child, anything is possible.

So, to unleash our own marketing creativity, perhaps a trip back in time is the answer – reconnect to your inner child. And what better time of year to connect to your inner child than right now around the holiday season – a time of year when inspiration is in abundance. Brightly-coloured twinkling lights surround us, sweet treats adorn every table, and friends and family laugh and enjoy each other’s company at glorious holiday festivities.

Now’s the time to harness some creative marketing for yourself. Take half an hour and embark on a journey back in time. Sit back and sing your favorite holiday tune, build a gingerbread house and eat half the candy in the process, or venture outdoors and make a snowman. Shed your adult responsibilities, if only for a short while, and see where your inner child takes you. Then, once you’re there, enjoy your thoughts and see where your creativity leads you. You may just come up with an ultra-creative answer to a marketing challenge you’ve been facing or even a stroke of brilliance for your own personal growth.

If by chance creative marketing light bulbs don’t light up, don’t get discouraged. At least you’ll have had some time to goof off, and you can always blame your childish antics on us.

Already, small businesses’ spend on their Web presence has almost doubled between 2008 and 2010 — another indication that businesses’ digital presence is becoming critical to their advertising strategies. (Read full article)

Before you decide, find out what your customers are doing online. Twitter may not be the optimum tactic to reach the 50+ crowd and other social media tactics are losing favor and new ones are hitting the radar every day. Stay on top of the trends but don’t jump on bandwagons too quickly. Technology, fads and marketers tend to move more quickly than the general population. Wait and watch. Which tactics are YOUR customer’s adopting and which ones fall from grace? This will help you figure out which channels you need to be using to reach them.

Don’t believe me? True Story: If someone had said to me three months ago that I would have a 52 page Premiere Edition magazine going out to 15,000 people tomorrow, I would have said you’re dreaming. Not with only two full time staff over the months of July and August when everyone is on vacation . . . it’s not possible to sell ads, design a magazine, build a website, write, photograph, edit, print and distribute in 90 days. But it’s happening. Our premiere issue of Women Business Owners Today magazine will hit mailboxes and be getting eyeballs in just short of 90 days!

How? Focus – Execute; Focus – Execute; Focus – Execute. A passion for the project helps too! If you have a passion for something and you want it more than anything you WILL find a way to make it happen regardless of the challenges, obstacles and nay sayers. It requires a steady focus on what you need to do and then the ability to execute in a step-by-step fashion. The result, SUCCESS!

These were a few of the headlines that came up when I searched 11 percent on Google. Why 11 percent? Well, I’m updating some of my social media training materials and wanted to put some numbers into perspective.

Everyone is talking about Facebook and how it’s everywhere and how you have to be using it to market your business! But is it really everywhere? Does it have to be part of our marketing strategy? Well, looking at the numbers, Facebook is currently reporting over 750,000,000 users. And while that is certainly a big number, the current population of the world is 6.954 billion. So, if you do the math, Facebook users actually only represent 11% of the worlds population! Doesn’t seem all that impressive. BUT lets look again. Only19% of our world is considered “developed countries.” So now if you consider 19% of 6.954 billion and then look at the percentage of Facebook users it comes out to 57%.

57% of the people in developed countries are considered active users of Facebook. hmmmm. Looks like a no brainer now doesn’t it?

In all the years I’ve been working in the marketing field this is the statement I find myself using most frequently. “It’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle.” It’s not a statement I can take credit for because I heard it or read it at some point in my career, but it’s relevant in so many cases.

What does it mean exactly? Well, you go to work, you do your job, you go home. Your work day is filled with stuff. Answering the phone, going to meetings, preparing reports, dealing with staff, etc. You’re consumed with your day-to-day, so when opportunities arise or problems occur we apply patchwork solutions, or the opportunity gets away on us.

It’s important for everyone – business owners and employees alike, to get out of the bottle! Take a step back from the day-to-day and look at what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and how you’re doing it. Look at the tasks, the processes, problems and opportunities and reposition yourself. It’s amazing how different things look from outside the bottle! It’ll give you a whole new perspective on your day-to-day and allow you to go after opportunities and discover the root of problems instead of just patching up symptoms.

As a woman business owner myself, I’m a little biased, but I have to say, as a group we seriously rock! There are over 821,000 of us in Canada and we contribute over 18 billion dollars to Canada’s economy annually! Four out of five businesses are started by women and over 2.6 million people are employed by businesses with at least one women business owner. Impressive numbers and an incredible group to be a part of. We’re a growing trend and thus the new venture by Dubyts Com. – Women Business Owners Today Magazine launches September 26, 2011 – visit www.womenbusinessownerstoday.com for all the juicy details!

The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha is a great little read that makes you feel good as you relive your own awesome moments; like picking up a “q” and “u” in scrabble at the same time, or when the vending machine gives you two things instead of one. Awesome!

I concur with most of Neil’s Awesome moments and have written a few of my own. That AH – HA moment in a planning session that uncovers huge untapped earning potential. Awesome! And opening up your email at the end of a grueling day and finding not one, but two glowing email from clients telling you how happy they are with their marketing results! Awesome! But my favorite of all time, Opening up an email from your son or daughter filled with pink, purple and green text in all sizes and fonts, happy faces and emoticons, announcing they just wanted to say hi! Ultimate in Awesome!

People are spending more time on computers, smart phones and tablets and therefore, less time doing what was once one of our favorite past times, watching the tube. So, what are the poor TV folks doing to get people back on the couch? They’re turning to YouTube to market themselves of course! I came across a YouTube video a while ago and it’s a great example how traditional media is using new media to promote themselves. Click on the “Funny Business” link for a good laugh that illustrates this. Funny Business

I arrived at my daughter’s concert 30 minutes early, sat down, pulled out my phone and started to download my LinkedIn updates. As I replied to one of my connections a “dad” sat down beside me – our daughters were in the same class. I glanced up from my Blackberry, acknowledged him with a nod and a smile and continued to give my device my undivided attention. After 5 seconds, he pulled out his smart phone and started poking away at the screen. As we both sat there engrossed in our electronic world I stopped and wondered how our electronic devices and our online social worlds have started to make us UN-sociable in the real world.

Next time you’re forced to sit in a waiting room. Glance around and I’ll bet you see the tops of peoples heads as they peer down at their phone and pitter patter on their tiny keyboards. No one is talking to one another, not kids with parents, or couples with each other, or friends with friends. The all mighty connectedness has its hold on us and it’ll be interesting to see where it all goes. Hang on it’s going to be a wild ride!